J. Brady McCollough or the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette discusses Olympic hypnosis in a recent piece.
The secret to USA Shooting’s success at the Olympics sat in a small office in Pittsburgh’s North Hills two weeks ago, awaiting transport across the pond.
The object in question would be picked up just off Perry Highway in Warrendale, lifted into a large crate and eventually shuffled through customs in the United Kingdom.
There, Dan Vitchoff, thousands of miles away from the Pennsylvania Hypnosis Center where he spends most of his waking hours, would be ready to receive his creation and begin putting it to good use.
To Vitchoff’s relief, the “Mind Gym” made it safe and sound. What a journey it has been for him and his hulking black leather chair. There was Beijing, where in 2008 Vitchoff’s mental training methods were used by Team USA shooters Glenn Eller and Vincent Hancock, who won gold medals. Then there were the athletes from other sports who needed Vitchoff’s help cleaning out their cluttered minds. Then came the hundreds of non-athletes who couldn’t stop smoking or overeating.
There is just one goal now: to get his shooters in a perfectly calm state of being throughout their stay in London so they’ll have no distractions standing in the way of their pursuit of gold when they arrive at the Royal Artillery Barracks.
“I’d do anything for these people,” Vitchoff said.
“My phone is on 24 hours a day. Those guys know I have no limit.”
When called upon, Vitchoff, 52, will sometimes just perform the duties of a loyal friend. He’ll take them out to eat, he’ll bring them a protein shake in the morning, he’ll make sure they’re getting all the vitamins they need and, most important, he’ll listen to them. But other times, the shooters will want a date with Vitchoff and the Mind Gym.
For those who swear by it, the Mind Gym is a magical apparatus. Clients can experience a hypnotic state without having to hear “You are getting very sleepy” or having a pocket watch swung in front of their eyes or, once entranced, being asked to move around like a monkey.
For much more about the program, see http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/12213/1250470-123.stm
If you’re in Taipei and interested in hypnosis, check the services page linked to in the top left sidebar. Not in Taipei? Check the store for recordings in the same menu area as well as links to lots and lots of info and goodies. Of course, browsing this site will bring you to a digital ton of positive resources on a wide variety of topics as well.
Brian
www.BrianDavidPhillips.com
